customs

You will go through passport control (immigration). How long it takes depends totally on how many other planes are coming in at the same time, and the day of the week and time of day you are arriving. I have had it take as little as 20 minutes or as much as over an hour. There is really no way to know.

We were in and out in 20 minutes, despite coming in at 3pm on a Monday with other flights arriving with us. No hassle at all. Getting to the gate was a hassle, but once off the plane it was smooth sailing.

Customs is a walk through. I've never stopped. Passport Control, on the other hand, as has been mentioned, can take a few minutes or an hour. Believe it or not, 6:25 AM is a very busy hour at Heathrow. Lots of North American flights arrive around that time.

A couple of years ago flew into Heathrow terminal 4 at that hour; immigration was a nightmare! The immigration staff were in the middle of changing shifts, and only one officer was on duty. It was like a perfect storm...in front of the line were passengers from a flight from India, and almost every one of them had "issues" with their visa, that required the officer to walk passengers to interview rooms. Needless to say folks on the flight I was on from Newark were not happy, and took their frustration out on the poor security guard watching the line. Next a Qantas flight from Sydney joined the line, and if you thought that Americans didn't like to wait in line, Aussies are worse:) All hell broke loose! Long story short the line didn't move for over an hour, I got out my netbook and watched three consecutive episodes of The Office. Once the new shift finally showed up the line moved very quickly.

Passport control will likely take on hour or more at that time of day. If you have nothing to declare, Customs will, literally, take no time at all.

Typically customs will take a minute or two assuming you have not to and you walk at a moderate to slow pace. This is the not the time it will take to get from the plane to outside the airport though. Edwin

fat fingered my response. Should have read:
assuming you have nothing to declare

Having just flown through on a Saturday, I can say Saturdays really are busier than weekdays! Wish I'd known that when scheduling. I usually count on anywhere from an hour to an hour and a half to get from the plane to the outside world, depending on what sort of flight it is (time, date, destination, international versus domestic, etc.) and my own state (tired, awake, hungry, carrying something heavy in my bag, etc.).

I'm leaving August 15 on Delta

Tamara, a good many international flights arrive at Heathrow early in the morning. It's often a walk of several minutes from the gate where you deplane to customs and passport control. Follow the signs to "Arrivals". If you checked luggage, you pick that up on the way. You will likely face a rather longish queue at passport control. So, plan on up to an hour to get through, and be happy if it takes less time. It will vary depending on when planes actually arrive, when they get to their gates, etc. You won't have a queue going through customs. There's a door for people with nothing to , and there's a door for people with something to . If you have nothing to you can just walk right through into the terminal. A practical matter: There are no restrooms available to folks queued up at passport control. Keep an eye out as you traipse through the airport hallways on your way from the plane, if need be.

"If you checked luggage, you pick that up on the way." You collect your checked luggage after Passport Control/Immigration and before Customs.